Star Gate-Chapter 1533: Unparalleled Massacre (I)

The young man in front of Ming Hao had brought out the corpse of a fifth rank, instantly killed a second rank, and was good friends with the Light crown prince. If I say that I don’t believe he can kill me, will I be dead the next second? I’m still afraid of death even though my cultivation has reached this level!

In fact, I’m even more afraid of death!

Ming Hao wanted to demonstrate his valor if he could—he was a mid rank, after all!

“Time’s up,” Li Hao suddenly said. “Since the fellow daoist has not chosen...”

Ming Hao clearly sensed the arrival of death—true death! The strength that’d frozen the Exalted Cloud Cotton Emperor appeared once more. Although Ming Hao could move, he still sensed incomparable pressure.

“I surrender!” he bawled from great stress. The man was sweating profusely and didn’t know what to do with himself. I simply accepted a mission and haven’t even seen the target. How come I’ve ended up bowing my head to a third rank??

What in the blazes??

“The fellow daoists have all chosen quickly and wisely!” Li Hao smiled. “I’m not afraid if the other fellow daoists betray me, but Fellow Daoist Ming Hao is too strong, so I’m a bit concerned...”

“What do you mean by this, Fellow Daoist Hao Moon?” Ming Hao’s expression changed as he sensed a struggle for survival.

“Nothing much, just what I said,” Li Hao smiled. “Of course, I’m not a hypocritical sort of person, so I’ll come straight out with it. I’d like to plant the brand of an eighth rank weapon within the fellow daoist’s body!

“It won’t be of much use, just that it belongs to an eighth rank weapon and can pierce through the fellow daoist’s great dao at any time. It can lock onto the fellow daoist whenever I wish—the owner of the weapon is very strong. And of course, it’s not me!”

The group reeled with shock. What the... fuck? An eighth rank weapon?? Where did that come from?! Not even an eighth rank exalted emperor might be able to create an eighth rank weapon! The master of Light doesn’t even own one, does he?

The young man had suddenly become complicated beyond imagine in their eyes; everyone regarded him with horror.

Is he backed by an eighth rank? Who??

The shadow of a brand appeared in Li Hao’s hand—he’d copied it from the brand of dao chess in his river.

“This is it,” he said with carefree ease. “Please summon your dao mark so I can put it in! The fellow daoist can refuse if you do not agree to this course of action. In addition, the weapon may not be able to lock onto you if the brand moves too far away. Or the fellow daoist can search out another eighth or even seventh rank to defuse it. It won’t leave much of an impact on you.”

Ming Hao took one look at the brand—just one look. He cursed everything to the high heavens!

Countless great daos could be glimpsed from just one look. It was a bewildering sight. Being a fourth rank, he had a certain degree of experience. He could tell from that single glance that the item was at least seventh rank, if not truly eighth rank!

This meant there was another high rank exalted emperor behind Hao Moon!

What the hell? Since when were high ranks so commonplace that they could be found anywhere?

“Alright!” Ming Hao swallowed hard and grit his teeth.

Li Hao looked at the others with a radiant smile. “There’s nothing to fear, everyone. I won’t do that to you. You’re just low ranks. I won’t stop anyone from leaving. It’ll take me only one sword stroke to kill a low rank!”

No one made a sound.

Was that contempt for them or intimidation?

Or perhaps it was just a bald-faced truth. It’s hard for me to kill a fourth rank, but I can’t even be bothered to confine those who are weaker. Whoever runs gets to die!

The weaker exalted emperors heaved a slight sigh of relief, but also felt that the situation was quite tragic. They didn’t even have the right to have their movements be restricted!

Ming Hao wanted to cry, but had no tears to do so. A brand from an eighth rank weapon meant that an eighth rank might have their eyes on him. I’m just a fourth rank, this is such an... honor!

And where can I go find a high rank exalted emperor to erase the brand for me? Would I dare approach anyone with this request?

The New Martial side is seriously too complicated. Not just them, but Light major world as well. And there’s also Hao Moon’s side to consider. He may have an eighth rank backing him. All of this is ridiculous! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

You hotshots can fight each other. Why are you guys dragging in chaos wanderers for? Life is hard enough already!

Ming Hao grappled with an overwhelming urge to sob. He brought out his dao mark; Li Hao casually tossed the brand into it.

“This is just a replica of the brand,” the young man said casually. “The real one’s with me. Yours only counts as a secondary imprint. The eighth rank may not be able to find you if you run far away enough.”

Ming Hao grinned—his mirth was uglier than crying. What do you mean by that? Are you telling me to rung? Or are you saying go on, let’s see if you dare run?

You got me, I don’t dare to run!

“Milord...”

“Don’t! Just call me Hao Moon!” Li Hao solemnly cut him off. “We are all exalted emperors, there is no need for honorifics milord or Your Lordship. That would be a joke! Since we are one party now, everyone, I’ll take you on a hunting mission of some exalted emperors. We’ll jointly kill any Red Moon exalted emperors we come across and consider that a show a fealty. I won’t have to worry about you guys running off after that.”

“......” No one made a sound. It really feels like we’ve boarded a pirate ship now. It’s one thing if we hadn’t killed any Red Moon exalted emperors, but once we do... we can only take this road to the bitter end!

Even Mo wanted to cry. This young man wasn’t handsome anymore to her. He was a devil, through and through!

He appears so kind and harmless, but he’s so scary when he kills people! He executed Cloud Cotton without a second thought! She’s very beautiful, didn’t you think twice about killing her?

But come to think of it, the young man really was such a cultured gentleman. He was so elegant even when killing people. He was so methodological, gently swinging his sword like he was flicking something away from him. Although someone had died, the scene wasn’t bloody at all.

...bah! How can I think this way?? He's a terrifying demon!

I’m the worst off, alright? Exalted Emperor Ming Hao wore a look of immense sorrow. I’m the one with an eighth rank’s attention on me!

......

Having killed one person and cowed the rest, all that remained was to take the rest under his wing. Li Hao was well versed in these steps. He’d recruited everyone he was traveling with because one, he did lack strength at present and two, these people were just chaos wanderers. They weren’t really the enemy and might be of some help if they stayed.

While he could kill the fourth rank, it might summon a chaos tribulation in the process. That would also arouse attention from their pursuers, so it wasn’t worth it.

As for whether or not Ming Hao would believe the effects of an eighth rank brand, or if he’d try to flee or fight back instead... That was up to him.

There was no use to that brand. Li Hao had said all that just to scare Ming Hao. The real brand was with the young man, how would he easily give it to someone else? It would save his life on one occasion if he used it well. He could also use it to study dao. A fourth rank was absolutely not worth giving it up for!

Having settled the matter of these exalted emperors, Li Hao no longer set a leisurely pace. Battle must have broken out at Silver Moon. A minute’s worth of delay might make the difference between life and death. But the group was indeed far away... how could they get there in time?

“Senior Ming Hao!” Li Hao said earnestly. “We are a bit too far from where I want to go. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble the senior to materialize your dao mark and bring us along with you!”

“......” Ming Hao was speechless. In the chaos, weaklings often slowed down the footsteps of powerhouses. So then, why didn’t powerhouses take the weaklings along for the ride?

For none other than being exalted emperors, neither party wanted the shame of such an action. The weak would feel humiliated and the strong would feel like they were a horse for the weak. They would rather travel slower!

If there was a high level weapon that could be used for transportation, however, then it would be a different story. The key was that chaos wanderers rarely possessed offensive weapons, so where would they get transportation treasures from?

Put another way, Li Hao wanted Ming Hao to bring out his dao mark so the rest of them could hitch a ride on it. It was a very humiliating arrangement.

Weaklings had no right to ask for such treatment. It was possible only when the powerhouse offered themselves. But, this was clearly an unusual situation.

Ming Hao wasn’t that willing as this was an affront to his dignity. Though he wanted to refuse, he was worried about causing his own death. Was dignity more important or his life more important?

Ultimately, the fourth rank made his decision! His dao mark materialized in the air, taking the shape of a small boat.

Li Hao looked at the other exalted emperors. “Everyone, let’s get in together!”

The group exchanged glances with each other and boarded the boat without further word. Instead of joining them, Li Hao walked ahead of the vessel. “I’ll lead the way, you guys follow me.”

He was a third rank, so he traveled swiftly enough. He wasn’t a typical third rank either, one that knew only the dao of life and death.

The young man blinked to the end of the long river the moment it appeared. He was exceedingly fast—on par with Ming Hao.

All of the exalted emperors on the boat were astonished. Why did this thing... resemble a fabled dao river?

Indeed, a river of great dao!

A powerhouse from a major world would instantly recognize it. But since these people were chaos wanderers, they weren’t that familiar with a major world. A dao river was typically in the hands of a master of dao, as well, which were usually seventh rank. They’d never come in contact with a seventh rank in their lives.

So while they’d heard of a construct called the dao river, they’d never seen one. Li Hao was only a third rank. While they had some suspicions... now was not the time to request clarification. Their doubts had to remain at the bottom of their hearts.

Ming Hao traveled swiftly enough. Although Li Hao was fast, he was able to keep up without having to resort to full speed.

A fourth rank was slightly stronger than Li Hao in the end. While the young man may be able to fight him, it would be too hard to triumph over or kill a fourth rank without borrowing external force.

Being invincible among peers was too difficult to contemplate at the exalted emperor level. Very few could fight someone of a higher level, especially with the bulwark between initial and mid ranks. Those who could accomplish it more or less had to borrow external force.